Charter amendments may correct language

February 21, 2004

By Michelle Seeber

Two items on the March 2 election ballot have received almost no media attention and city officials have put little effort into promoting them. That’s because the charter amendment proposals are intended only to clean up incorrect language in the city charter, officials said.
Charter Amendment Proposal No. 1, an amendment to repeal term limits, is asking voters’ permission to repeal language that limits the number of terms an elected city official can serve.
City officials said state law prohibits term limits and supersedes language in the city charter.
City Manager Raymond Mondragon said if voters don’t approve the repeal, it will stay in the charter, but remain unenforceable.
Charter Amendment Proposal No. 2 is an attempt to change language reflecting the correct number of city commissioners. Language in the current charter refers to seven city commissioners; the correct number is eight.